Sylvia Iriondo, the president of Mothers Against Repression (M.A.R. Por Cuba), said she took issue with the pope for finding time to meet with Fidel Castro, but not with dissidents.

"His agenda is flexible enough to accommodate a tyrant," she said, "but not enough to receive the Ladies (in White) for even one minute."

But others, like Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who led a group of more than 300 pilgrims to Cuba this week to take part in the papal trip, defended the pope's visit and said that it will open more space for the Catholic Church on the island.

“It will bear fruit,” he said during a press conference Thursday afternoon at Miami International Airport, minutes after returning from Havana. “What we are seeing is a springtime of faith, a reawakening of faith, a faith that will give the Cuban people a path to follow so that they will have a future of hope.”

For Alina Buda, a recent pilgrimage to Cuba was not only a chance to see the Pope but an opportunity to reconnect with the country of her birth.

“It’s really been an incredible experience,” Buda told CNA on March 29. “Spiritually, it’s been amazing.”

"A God who responds to our reason" - Fr. James V. Schall on Benedict on Mexico. (Catholic World Report 3/25/12). "Benedict is not a utopian, but he does see how things can be better, but only on the grounds of reason and the truths of faith addressed to it, be it in Mexico, Cuba, or anywhere else."

Pope Benedict XVI's diplomatic high-wire act in Havana, pressing the case for religious freedom but avoiding direct clash with the Castro regime, was the main news flash out of his March 23-28 trip to Mexico and Cuba. Yet there was another leitmotif to the outing, more subtle but arguably more decisive for the church across Latin America.

Not to put too fine a point on it, the pope offered a gentle, yet unmistakable, debunking of clericalism. His focus seemed to be the gradual reshaping of ecclesial culture, not sexy short-term headlines, which puts it squarely into Benedict's wheelhouse.

There’s a chicken-or-the-egg sort of conundrum here. Which comes first: the concessions to the regime or the challenge to the regime? The willingness to negotiate with an unfriendly government or the determination to press that government for change? If there are no negotiations, there can be no pressure for change. If there are no concessions, there can be no challenge. Political negotiations always take place on a two-way street.

If the Vatican and the Cuban hierarchy had not been willing to make a few deals, the Pope could not have visited Cuba. If he had not visited Cuba, he could not have rallied the Catholic opposition and stirred the cries for liberty. For all we know, the Pope’s visit may prove to be the first step in a series of events that triggers the downfall of Cuban Communism. Who can ever forget how a visit to Poland by Blessed John Paul II led eventually to the collapse of the entire Soviet empire?

When critics say the Church has sold out the anti-Communist resistance for limited religious freedoms, they overlook an obvious fact: religious celebrations like the one the pope just led, which speak to the deepest parts of the human soul, are themselves massive acts of resistance against a tyrannical Communist state, and should inspire freedom-fighters everywhere.

We can debate the prudential acts of Catholic leaders toward the Castro brothers, but let us not doubt where the fundamental sympathies of the Catholic Church—and especially Pope Benedict—lie.

Pope Benedict and Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, both octogenarians, joked about their age in a brief meeting on Wednesday and then Castro popped the question: so what do you do?

The two world figures chatted for about 30 minutes at the Vatican embassy in Havana near the end of the pope’s three-day visit to Cuba, where he called for greater freedom and a bigger role for the Catholic Church in the communist-led nation.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said Benedict, 84, and Castro, 85, had an “exchange of ideas” in a “very cordial” atmosphere.

On the one hand was the “Maximum Leader” of the Cuban Revolution who remained in power for almost 50 years, from 1959 to 2008, before illness led him to hand over power definitively to his brother. On the other was the former Theology Professor who, in 1959, had just begun a teaching career in Bonn and who seven years later was to become the leader of the universal Church. Reaching the end of his life, the revolutionary atheist showed a keen interest in religious questions, “interrogating” Peter’s successor. He followed Benedict XVI’s apostolic visit on the television and noticed some variations in the liturgy since his younger days. So the Pope explained how mass had changed.

Fidel then showed enthusiasm at the prospect of Wojtyla and Mother Teresa’s (“benefactress of Cuba whom I worship”) beatification. Fidel asked the Pope for some books on faith and received three papal commemorative medals and the promise of future advice on reading material.

17:00 - Departure by plane from the José Martí international airport of La Habana for Roma

Coverage

Pope calls for "Authentic" Freedom in Cuba, by Randal C. Archibold and Rachel Donadio. (New York Times 3/28/12). In the heart of Revolution Square in Cuba, with towering images of guerrilla heroes staring back at him, Pope Benedict XVI called Wednesday for “authentic freedom” in one of the world’s most authoritarian states.

Preaching at Mass in Havana's Revolution Square, location of the headquarters of Cuba's Communist Party, Pope Benedict XVI called for full religious freedom and greater respect for human rights on the island.

"In Cuba steps have been taken to enable the church to carry out her essential mission of expressing the faith openly and publicly," the pope said during his homily March 28. "Nonetheless, this must continue forward."

With President Raul Castro seated near the altar platform, the pope said, "I wish to encourage the country's government authorities to strengthen what has already been achieved and advance along this path of genuine service to the true good of Cuban society as a whole."

Pope asks Castro for more church freedom, Good Friday holiday, by Cindy Wooden (Catholic News Service 3/28/12). Pope Benedict XVI spent more than 40 minutes meeting privately with Cuban President Raul Castro and asked the Cuban leader for further freedoms for the Catholic Church in Cuba and attention to certain "humanitarian" situations.

A few hours before they planned to attend an outdoor Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, members of a Catholic dissident group were reportedly arrested by Cuban police.

Alejandrina Garcia de la Rivas and Laura Maria Labrada Pollan, members of the Ladies in White -- "Damas de Blanco" -- were arrested before 6 a.m. March 28, said Blanca Reyes, a member of the organization who now lives Madrid, Spain.

In this picture made available by the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano Pope Benedict XVI, right, meets with Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday March 28, 2012. Source: Associated Press

Pope meets Cuba's Fidel Castro, slams U.S. embargo (Reuters 3/28/12). Pope Benedict called for an end to the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and met with revolutionary icon Fidel Castro on Wednesday as he ended a trip in which he urged the communist island to change.

Cuba’s President Raúl Castro has declared Holy Friday celebrated on 6 April as a national holiday, after Pope Benedict XVI requested this during his recent visit to Cuba. The news was reported by Granma, the Cuban Communist party’s daily newspaper.

According to Granma Castro agreed to recognise this coming Holy Friday as a national holiday “in consideration of His Holiness and for the positive outcome of his extraordinary visit to our Country.” It will be up to the government, he said, to decide whether to make this decision permanent.

Hundreds of dissidents were released from Cuban prisons in the 48 hours after Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the communist-run island came to a close, according to a religious rights agency.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said political opponents of the regime across the country were released after spending the week in prison or under house arrest to stop them from attending any of the services during the Pope's visit.

For 400 years, Cubans -- believers and nonbelievers alike -- have brought their sorrows and joys before the little statue of Mary, and even Cuba's communist rulers have claimed her as a cultural icon of the Cuban struggle for freedom and equality.

When Pope Benedict visited the Virgin's shrine March 27, he joined the thousands of pilgrims marking the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the statue, and he echoed the prayers of many of them for a future marked by less poverty and greater freedom.

In this picture made available by the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano Pope Benedict XVI, center, accompanied by a group of bishops and cardinals, kneels in prayer before the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Cuba's patron saint, in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. Source: Associated Press

The U.S. State Department had warned the Vatican that the regime would use Benedict XVI’s visit to protest against the embargo. This immediately materialised upon the Pope’s arrival in Santiago. Raúl Castro welcomed Benedict XVI with 21 gun salutes and went on to attack Washington for “the 53 years of hostility against the Cuban revolution,” denouncing the fact that “the U.S.’s political and economic embargo oppresses the island.” Despite this, Castro said, “Cuba is changing; it is broadening its horizons and enjoys good relations with the Church.” Benedict XVI, however, showed no signs of being intimidated by Raúl Castro’s words and said what he had planned to say, talking about his visit as a mission to open Cuba up to the world and the world up to Cuba, on behalf of “the legitimate aspirations and wishes of all Cubans, wherever they may be.” In his appeal against the repression of religious and civil freedom, he also echoed the distressed and inflamed expectations of expats in Florida who have been thundering against the Holy See’s “weakness” towards Castro. During his first mass celebration on the island where God has been rejected for half a century and the Catholic Church persecuted and deprived of religious freedom, Benedict XVI again suggested “a real theology of liberation, based on testimony of the faith and the freedom of those who open up to God,” the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions’ news agency stated.

A man shouts slogans against communism and the dictatorship, before the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI arrives at Revolution Square in Santiago de Cuba, 915 km southeast of Havana on March 26, 2012 where the pontiff is to celebrate a mass. Source: Getty

Just after Pope Benedict XVI prayed at a revered shrine in Cuba on Tuesday, calling for the country to move forward “along the way of renewal and hope,” a top government minister made clear that the sweeping economic changes under way here would not be accompanied by political reforms that the pope has urged.

The comments from the minister, Marino Murillo, the vice president of the Council of Ministers and the official overseeing the steps toward a freer market, amounted to a rebuttal of sorts to the pope, who in recent days has portrayed the political system here as unworkable and has laced his comments since arriving on Monday with calls for increased liberties.

Leading Cuban dissidents say they don't know the man who shouted anti-government slogans before Pope Benedict XVI's Mass in the eastern city of Santiago. Nor do they know his whereabouts a day after security agents removed him from the ceremony.

But they say they are trying to find out, and worry he might face punishment. . . . The Cuban government did not respond to requests for comment.

14 years after Bl. John Paul II’s trip to Cuba, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass tonight on Cuban soil to commemorate the 400 year anniversary of the discovery of the image of the “Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre”. Below find a clip of the Holy Father’s homily. Source: Salt + Light Television

The pontiff, who last week said Marxism "no longer responds to reality," gave a more gentle tweak to his hosts by expressing sympathy for all islanders, including prisoners.

"I carry in my heart the just aspirations and legitimate desires of all Cubans, wherever they may be," he said. "Those of the young and the elderly, of adolescents and children, of the sick and workers, of prisoners and their families, and of the poor and those in need."

The Church Can Help in Cuba's Renewal To learn about the Church in Cuba, ZENIT spoke with Father Jorge Luis Pérez Soto, a priest of the Archdiocese of San Cristobal of Havana, who lives in Rome and is studying dogmatic theology. (Zenit 3/27/12).

Cuban security forces have detained at least 50 people, including many members of the Women in White (Damas de Blanco) movement and an even greater number of dissident political activists on the eve of Pope Benedict’s arrival in this Caribbean island.

At least 22 members of the Women in White movement had been arrested by early Sunday afternoon, March 25, sources in the movement confirmed, but that number could increase as other women are determined to attend the papal masses in Santiago de Cuba (March 26) and Havana (March 28).

People wait for Pope Benedict XVI to pass by as he is driven through Santiago de Cuba, 915 km southeast of Havana on March 26, 2012. Source: Getty Images

Cardinal Ortega on What Cuba Is Expecting From Benedict XVI (Zenit, 3/26/12). “Benedict XVI will find himself in a Cuba geared to living a new period, both at the social as well as the religious level. A period of openings that must be consolidated,” said Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, archbishop of San Cristobal of Havana, in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano leading up to the trip, which began today.

As Cuba prepares to receive Pope Benedict XVI on March 26, an increasing number of voices both on the island and abroad are complaining that the local church authorities are ignoring dissident groups and showing favoritism to a government that oppresses its own people. They also fear that the pontiff's visit could be exploited for the same purposes.

In recent days, Lech Walesa, the former leader of Poland's Solidarity movement that toppled the communist regime in 1989, as well as Cuban-American congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, have joined Cuban dissident groups to ask the pope to speak out against human rights abuses by the island's communist government during his upcoming trip.

A man walks near posters of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro (L) and Pope Benedict XVI in Havana March 26, 2012. Source: Reuters

The eyes and the prayers of parishioners in Havana's St. Rita of Cascia Church were focused on the 19 catechumens who will be baptized at Easter. Only the large group of reporters was fixated on the 35 women dressed all in white sitting near the front.

But after the Mass March 25, while parishioners visited with each other and with their pastor, the Ladies in White -- the "Damas de Blanco" -- recited the Hail Mary in the back of the church, and then began their weekly protest march along the main street outside. ...

Benedict faces an odd paradox in what is the first visit by a pope since John Paul II’s in 1998. The church’s profile as an institution has risen sharply in recent years amid a burst of religious tolerance not seen since the 1959 revolution, with church leaders advocating for political and economic freedoms, negotiating the release of dozens of political prisoners in 2010 and counseling the government on plans for re-engineering the economy.

At the same time, the church has struggled to attract more worshipers and faces criticism that it has grown too cozy with Cuba’s tight circle of decision makers.

“The church quietly challenges the regime so they are not seen as a great threat by it,” said Christopher Sabitini, senior director of policy at the Council of the Americas.

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Mexico Friday to an enthusiastic welcome from crowds of Catholic faithful and government officials, evoking memories of Pope John Paul II's many successful trips to the world's largest Spanish-speaking country. However, the pontiff's journey is also becoming the occasion of a carefully-planned attack by a victim of the late Fr. Marcial Maciel, who accuses Benedict, John Paul, and other high officials of the Church of failing to respond adequately to the accusations against the sexually-abusive priest.

Pope Benedict XVI greeted Mexicans who lost loved ones in some of the country's most notorious crimes, events that horrified Mexico and generated international headlines.

They were among people the pope greeted privately March 24 following his public appearance in the city of Guanajuato. No details were provided, although the office of President Felipe Calderon issued a list of the eight attendees and crimes that affected them.

Pope Benedict XVI wears a traditional Mexican hat while driving through a crowd before officiating mass in Silao March 25, 2012. Source: Reuters

The Meaning of the Papal Mass in Mexico, by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman. (Catholic World Report 3/27/12). Sunday’s Mass in Silao was an expression of liturgical reform and a message of hope to millions of Mexican faithful.

Trust in God to help change society, pope says in Mexico's heartland, by Francis X Rocca. (Catholic News Service 3/25/12). Celebrating Mass in the Catholic heartland of Mexico, Pope Benedict XVI told a nation and a continent suffering from poverty, corruption and violence, to trust in God and the intercession of Mary to help them bring about a "more just and fraternal society."

Pope Benedict XVI urged Mexicans to hold strong to the Catholic faith -- even amidst drug violence, poverty and the pains caused by mass immigration to the north -- at a Sunday Mass under the blazing sun.

Many in the crowd said they were gratified by Benedict's recognition of their country's problems and said they felt reinvigorated in what they described as a daily struggle against criminality, corruption and economic hardship.

Benedict delivered the message to an estimated 350,000 people in the shadow of the Christ the King monument, one of the most important symbols of Mexican Christianity, which recalls the 1920s Roman Catholic uprising against the anti-clerical laws that forbade public worship services such as the one Benedict celebrated.

It was an unexpected meeting that was not in the Pope's official schedule but it will be remembered as one of the most significant moments of Benedict XVI's trip to Mexico. On the occasion of their meeting in Guanajuato, Mexican President Felipe Calderon arranged for the Pope to meet a group of eight family members of victims of organised crime. The Pope was thus able to express his support in the struggle against the main plague that is afflicting Mexico: the drug wars that are causing so much bloodshed (50 thousand deaths over the last five years).

The attention given to this issue was highlighted by Ratzinger and Calderon's joint call, together with two Holy See and Mexican government delegations - gathered in Guanajuato – for a swift conclusion of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Both parties wished to speed along the proceedure because “the proliferation [of small arms and light weapons] is favouring illegal activities in organised crime. The treaty is also aimed at responsibly regulating the trade of arms “in order to prevent their possession by criminal groups.”

The Pope's meeting with family members of drug war victims was intense and moving. Each one of them had a story to tell. Family members included ... [Read More]

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives in his Popemobile to lead a mass at the Parque del Bicentenario in Silao March 25, 2012. Source: Reuters

Visiting Latin America for the second time in his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI offered a message of hope for social progress rooted in a revival of Catholic faith.

The overriding message of the pope's public statements during his three days in Mexico, March 23-26, was that this troubled country, and the region in general, cannot solve their problems -- which include poverty, inequality, corruption and violence -- by following the prescriptions of secular ideologies.

Instead, the pope said, peace and justice in this world require a divinely inspired change in the human heart.

Pope bids warm farewell to Mexico, heads to Cuba, by David Agren (Catholic News Service 3/26/12). Pope Benedict XVI bade Mexico a warm "adios," emphasizing he meant, "Remain with God," concluding a trip marked by outpourings of faith and affection from people in the world's second-most populous Catholic country.

Pope Benedict XVI met with President Felipe Calderón on Saturday evening in what was described by the Vatican as a courtesy visit in the middle of a purely pastoral trip to Mexico and Cuba.

But his comments beforehand, about violence in Mexico and communism in Cuba, made it clear that the pope did not intend to ignore his potential political influence.

This evening the Holy Father greeted the Children gathered in Peace Square, Guanajuato. In an ecstatic atmosphere, the Holy Father’s speech was interrupted several times with loud cheers! -- Salt + Light Television

Coverage

Mexico: Benedict XVI meets President Calderon (La Stampa "The Vatican Insider" 3/25/12). Topics at the centre of bilateral talks include: nuclear disarmament, climate change, international agreements to limit the use and distribution of arms.

Singing, strumming guitars and trying to shield themselves from a searing sun, tens of thousands of Mexican Catholics came together Saturday nearly 24 hours ahead of an open-air Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.

Many had said moments earlier that they could never love a pope as strongly as Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II. But the presence of a pope on Mexican soil touched a chord of overwhelming respect and adoration for the papacy itself, the personification for many of the Catholic Church, and God. Thousands found themselves taken aback by their own emotions.

Crowds waved yellow and white Vatican flags as the Popemobile arrived in the steep streets of the colonial city of Guanajuato from neighboring Leon, in highly Catholic, central Mexico, where the pope is staying for three nights. Source: Getty Images

Benedict awoke to the pre-dawn serenade of two dozen youths from a Guadalajara church group who sang him a traditional folk song after getting as close as security would allow to the college in Leon where the pontiff is staying during his three-day visit to Mexico.

"We sang with all our heart and all our force," said Maria Fernanda de Luna, a member of the group. "It gave us goose bumps to sing 'Las Mananitas' for him."

On the Pope’s Plane: Ladies Rule the Roost, by Greg Burke. (Fox News Latino, 3/24/12). Traveling on the Pope’s plane is sort of like the Boys on the Bus, but not exactly. By my count, some 17 of the 70 reporters sitting in the back of the Alitalia flight are women.

General view of Peace square in front of the basilica of Guanajuato in Guanajuato, Mexico on March 24, 2012, during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. Source: Getty Images

When President Felipe Calderón greeted Pope Benedict XVI, he did so on behalf of the millions of Mexicans, including those who had departed for the United States — immigrants, the president said, that “we profoundly miss.”

He could have been talking about Tereso Ortiz, who traveled from Dallas, despite repeated travel warnings from U.S. authorities. Like millions, Ortiz watched on television as Benedict’s prayers included “Mexicans who live outside their homeland, but who have never forgotten, Mexicans who wish to see a nation grow in harmony and with an integral economic development.”

“I won’t lie to you,” Ortiz said. “Those words moved me and brought tears to my eyes. That alone was worth the drive.”

Pro-lifers often cite a famous remark by St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei: “Have you ever bothered to think how absurd it is to leave one’s Catholicism aside on entering a university, or a professional association, or a scholarly meeting, or Congress, as if you were checking your hat at the door?”

Pope Benedict XVI has echoed that position during his current trip to Mexico, which is his first to Spanish-speaking Latin America. Aboard the papal plane on Friday, he too took a swipe at those who try to drive a wedge between private and public ethics – pointedly calling it a form of “schizophrenia.”

“One sees in Latin America, and also elsewhere, among many Catholics a certain schizophrenia between individual and public morality,” Benedict said.

L’Osservatore Romano reported that, as usual, the press conference took place at the beginning of the trip, with 72 representatives of the international press.

The journalists’ questions referred to Mexico’s difficult situation, scourged by the destructive violence of drug trafficking, the role of the Church in the continent amid social contrasts, and debates on the legacy of “liberation theology,” the question of human rights in Cuba with reflections on the enduring precariousness of international balances with reference to the Caribbean Island, and the numerous challenges that appear on the horizon of the Church in Latin America, committed to the continental mission which began after the conference of Aparecida.

En route to Latin America for his second papal visit to the region, Pope Benedict XVI called for patience with the Catholic Church's effort to promote freedom in communist Cuba, and criticized Catholics who participate in illegal drug trade or who ignore their moral responsibilities to seek social justice.

Pope Benedict said on Friday that communism had failed in Cuba and offered the Church's help in creating a new economic model, drawing a reserved response from the Cuban government ahead of his visit to the island next week.

Speaking on the plane taking him from Rome for a six-day trip to Mexico and Cuba, the Roman Catholic leader told reporters: "Today it is evident that Marxist ideology in the way it was conceived no longer corresponds to reality."

Benedict XVI arrives in Mexico as a pilgrim of faith, hope and love (Vatican Information Service, 3/24/12). An account of Benedict's arrival at the international airport of Guanajuato in the Mexican city of Leon, where he was greeted by Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, president of Mexico, and by Archbishop Jose Guadalupe Martin Rabago of Leon.

Waiting for the pope: Vatican flags, human wall -- and hope for peace, by David Agren. (Catholic News Service 3/23/12). Thousands of Catholics formed a human wall lining parts of the highway and boulevards leading into and through this industrial city of shoe factories and tanneries in anticipation of Pope Benedict's arrival March 23 -- his first visit to Mexico since being elected in 2005.

Benedict, who turns 85 next month, leaned on a black cane with his right hand as he walked steadily for about 100 meters (yards) to the foot of the Alitalia plane from the helicopter which flew him from the Vatican to Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport Friday morning.

Papal aides, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the pope started using the cane about two months ago in private because it makes him feel more secure, and not for any medical problem.

Pope Benedict XVI sends telegrams from plane (Vatican Radio, 3/23/12). Pope Benedict sent telegrams to the heads of state of the countries he was scheduled to fly over as he made his way to Mexico, the first leg of his Latin American trip.

Mexico spends millions to greet pope, by Rafael Romo. (CNN 3/23/12). It has been a project of celestial proportions, but it's finally ready. Construction workers have labored nonstop for months -- Their mission? To build an altar worthy of a pope and an outdoor venue that can accommodate as many as 700,000 people.

Protestants on the rise as pope visits Mexico (Reuters 3/21/12). "When Pope Benedict visits the city of Leon in Mexico's Catholic heartland this weekend, the growing strength of Protestant groups will be on view just hundreds of meters from where he will meet with bishops and the Catholic faithful."

The same week that Pope Benedict XVI is set to arrive in Mexico, a new book details internal Vatican documents showing the Holy See knew decades ago of allegations that the Mexican founder of the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order was a drug addict and pedophile.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Pope and Mexico’s Spiritual Crisis, by Matthew Cullinan Hoffmann. (The Catholic World Report 3/19/12). Pope Benedict XVI prepares for trip to a Mexico torn by violence on the street—and in the womb.

Mexico's political landscape more open to church but still has bumps, by David Agren. (Catholic News Service 3/22/12). "When Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Mexico March 23, he'll find a country casting aside the old anti-clerical provisions, where the Vatican is now recognized and politicians and political parties openly court church favor."

Cardinal Bertone: Pope Bringing Encouragement to Mexico Cardinal Bertone was interviewed by Mexican television Televisa and by El Sol de México newspaper. The text of his talk was published by Vatican Radio. (Zenit 3/21/12). The origin of this special place began with a Mass in 1919. Fifty-three years later, on March 25, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI will reaffirm the faith that succeeded in building this monument which is over 20 meters (65 feet) high. The history of the Christ of “El Cubilete” is, without a doubt, a history of obstacles as well as perseverance.

The Pope's mission to Mexico will be super-partes, by Andres Beltramo Alvarez. (La Stampa "The Vatican Insider" 3/19/12). An interview with cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, the only Mexican cardinal who will be a member of the entourage accompanying Joseph Ratzinger to his country.

The Catholic Church's position on the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba is "no mystery," the Vatican spokesman said, and there's a good chance Pope Benedict XVI will publicly criticize the embargo when he visits Cuba.

At the same time, Pope Benedict also will call for greater freedoms -- particularly religious freedom -- and respect for other human rights during his stay in Cuba March 26-28.

The “Ladies in White”movement, which has been awarded the Sakharov prize for peace, is asking for the release of political prisoners, who include partners and spouses. Usually the activists, mainly women, attend Sunday mass together and then demonstrate to ask for the release of the prisoners. The dissidents have multiplied their initiatives in Havana in view of the Pope’s imminent visit, scheduled between 26 and 28 March.